A SAMPLE BUSINESS PLAN – ESTABLISHMENT OF A SOY MILK PROCESSING PLANT

A business plan is the
blueprint that guides you on the road to business success. Venturing into
entrepreneurship requires a solid business plan to clearly define the idea, the
opportunity to be tapped, location, target market segment, competitive environment,
viability of the idea as well as entrepreneurial experience and commitment.

At
the very least, your business plan should contain the following elements:

i.Business idea
title

ii.Business
opportunity

iii.Competitive
Landscape

a.Competitors

b.Challenges

c.Innovation

iv.Viability of the
business idea

a.Pricing

b.Marketing

c.Distribution
channels

d.Financial
projections

e.Staffing

f.Sales
projections

g.Financial
requirement

h.Source of
finance

v.Entrepreneurial
experience and commitment

a.Education level
and experience

b.Commitment level

c.Current
occupation

d.Product
availability

A comprehensive plan
will usually include the following:

1.An Executive
summary – a brief and concise outline of the plan in its entirety

a.Basic
assumptions – the norm for any accounting statement projections.

b.Capital
investment and cost schedule

c.Depreciation
schedule

d.Sources of funds
and financing plan

e.Financial risks

f.Analysis of
financial results

9.Supporting
documents / annexes

a.Funding
requirements

b.Statement of
cash flows

c.Statement of
financial position (Balance sheet)

d.Statement of
comprehensive income (Income statement)

e.Statement of
changes in equity

f.Notes to the
financial statements

10.Corporate Data –
usually a legal summary of the business, location, ownership, activities and
capital.

Business planning is
one of the keys to strengthening the culture of entrepreneurship in Tanzania.
Most businesses fail even before the hit the ground running mostly because no road map was charted beforehand. Ships, airplanes and cars all have navigational
controls and charted routes and in this way destinations can be reached and
disasters avoided. It’s also best to have a contingency plan for every possible
scenario en route to executing your plan.

Below is a link to a
comprehensive business plan on the establishment of a soy milk processing plant
in Northern Tanzania. The plan is well
documented, supported by weeks of research data and accompanied by necessary
financial statements.